Past Is Present; Future Is Past
Archives Yet To Come
Berkeley Art Center
Ongoing - May 4
Are you creating “Archival Art” or have you done so in the past? “Archival Art” is a contemporary art movement that explores the archive as a subject, source, or concept. Archival art is a way for artists to re-examine history and memory, and to explore the social, political, and ethical implications of archives. In creating archival art, the artist generally draws on older, frequently historical, materials and supplies to create something suitable for long-term contact with important objects. The art that is produced is following a predetermined structure and controlled methodology, and with direct links to archival materials.
Americans, especially of the WEMS variety (my own invention – white, european, male and straight), are notorious for living our lives in the moment. Indeed, we tend to live five minutes into the future.
So maybe it’s no surprise that the best known archival artists are overwhelmingly non-WEMS. Andy Warhol is a famous example of an archival artist. The Bay Area’s own, well-known artist, TT Takemoto uses archival art in their works frequently, making moving stories into films. Other well-known archival, contemporary artists include Rita Keegan, Goshka Macuga, Adam Pendelton, Walid Raad, Rosângela Rennó, Guadalupe Rosales, Thomas Ruff, Judy Freya Sibuyan, Lorna Simpson, Dayanita Singh and Fiona Tan. Not a WEMS among them.
Tan, Pickpockets
Of course, archives have been used in art in the past. The archive is a particular kind of space of “rememory,” perhaps best described as histories in one place; it fuses erased histories without quite resolving them. “Archival Art” has flourished as a contemporary movement for the last dozen years. Now, the BAC is offering visitors the opportunity to interact with Archival Art in its raw form – to view Archival Art at its inception.
In its current installation, “Archives Yet to Come” explores the potential of archives shaped by artistic strategies and actions, focusing on the creative uses of archival preservation. The exhibition examines how archives hold multiple and often conflicting histories. Archives are collections of chronicles from diverse perspectives, preserving and making countless versions of the past visible. "Archives Yet to Come" delves into themes of archival imagination, knowledge production, and diasporic storytelling.
Featuring seven artists working across sentimental and familial archives, social practice, and time-based media, this show presents a reimagining of memory. These artists build unique aesthetic languages to reinterpret documents, photographs, and enduring artifacts, exploring how their meaning shifts over time and contributes to the ever-evolving process of collective memory.
Parris, Title Unknown
Participating artists: Lynse Cooper, Lindsey Filowitz, Jy Jimmie Flora Gabiola, Mary Graham, Nneka Kai, Charles Lee, and Qadir Parris. (Once again, not a WEMS among them.)
For more information on Berkeley Art Center, click here.
